this date in U.S. history - The Name for the New Country - The United States

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September 9, 1776 - The Continental Congress officially names its union of states the United States.

On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress formally passed a resolution changing the name of the revolutionary alliance from the "United Colonies" to the "United States of America." By replacing "Colonies" with "States," the delegates codified their break from British rule, signaling to foreign powers like France and Spain that they were dealing with a sovereign, unified nation capable of securing loans, forming military alliances, and issuing international treaties. Before September 1776, people rarely identified as "Americans"—they were proud Virginians, Pennsylvanians, or Massachusetts men first and foremost. The title was largely popularized by Thomas Paine in his January 1776 pamphlet Common Sense and explicitly written into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson in July 1776.

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